Red, Sweet & Wild

To promote adoption from foster care, Lansdowne's Epiphany House is hosting a showing of the Heart Gallery of Philadelphia on April 24th at the Plymonth Meeting Mall. The Heart Gallery offers portraits of waiting children looking for forever families.



Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Out of the Blue

This April, I spent a few days with my mom and my step-dad. The last time I saw Ed he had been in a drug-induced coma. It was good to see him up and moving around. But it was hard to see him weak and so thin. Coming home from my trip, I was emotionally exhausted.

Out of the blue, I get a call from our old adoption agency. The agency had a birthmother who was due in a few days and they were looking for prospective adoptive parents. The birthmother is a heavy cocaine user, over 40, and had no pre-natal care. That night Kevin and I wrestled over whether we should go back to domestic adoption or stay with the foster care system. We decided to stay with the foster care system because we did not know what type of medical treatment the infant may need. I have been waiting so long for a second child, it felt horrible to say no.

That very afternoon, my social worker called me about that 18-month-old toddler. Now it looks like the reunification process will not go through. The little boy has special needs, a lot of special needs, but he is doing well. The little boy's next court date is in a month. This is still all up in the air, but I have hope.

Right now I have a terrible head cold, Quincy has entered the wonderful, obnoxious stage where he is a brat for every waking moment, Kevin is blissfully oblivious, and I am filled with emotion. So much is in my heart and on my mind, I am vibrating. I think I will go knit a sweater.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

From the Outside Looking in

Right now, I am freezing. Q has yet again given me a cold so I am shivering, my muscles hurt, and my throat feels raw. Q passed this wonderful cold to me last Sunday when we went to a friend's house for dinner. I should have known Q was sick because he was quiet and very well behaved. My friend has two kids under four. Whenever I visit families with multiple kids I always judge if I will be a good mother for more than one kids.
From the outside looking in, having multiple kids seems terrible. They seem to be always kicking each other or one is crying while the other is laughing maniacally. Last Saturday, we went to a botancial garden with another friend and her two children. We had a lovely day together but I could see how exhausted she was by the end of the day.
I have finished reading Toddler Adoption and scour the Internet for tips on adopting a older child. But no one can talk me through what it will be like to juggle two kids. Lately, I have been looking at a pair of adorable two-year-old twins on the SWAN website. Three kids! Kevin asked if I was crazy, but I caught him looking at the twins' picture, too.
Everyday I wait for the call from the social worker so we can begin this next journey. Every time the phone rings I wonder will this be the call. I so want that call, but I am also terrified by the thought of multiple kids in my house, all trying to drive me crazy.